Covering The Three Little Pigs In a Social Media Era

How would the modern world cover the conspiracy surrounding The Three Little Pigs? Would they blame the wolf? Would Twitter trends pop up in support of the Wolf’s plight? What about the Pigs? Would their hard scrabble life–having to move again and again because of unsound housing conditions, which were exacerbated by their natural predator–make them sympathetic figures while they were being arrested for murdering the Wolf?

Would Facebook accounts pop up here, there and everywhere supporting either side of the coin?

If The Guardian’s awesome commercial for open journalism is accurate, then yes, all of the above would happen in short order. Actually, you don’t need the commercial to confirm things we already know. Just ask the movements surrounding #Occupy, SOPA, and ACTA. Without the help of social media keeping these unsatisfied factions in the loop, how successful would the SOPA-protesting Internet blackout have been?

It is, however, impressive to see such a succinct take on The Guardian’s part, because they absolutely nailed it. This is exactly how a connected public would react to such a story, even if they knew all the facts or not. Whether it’s the investigating blogger digging for facts or the random Facebook supporter joining the popular trend their friends are taking part in, the proliferation of electronic communication and the devices that allow us this luxury has made this kind of reality very, very real.